"To be nobody-but-myself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to
make me everybody else - means to fight the hardest battle which any human being
can fight, and never stop fighting."
(e. e. cummings)

Thursday, December 02, 2004

Spot a White Squirrel

OK, those of you who know my ongoing list of personal goals know that the things I want to do are not the standard "wine country of France" sorts of things. I have hugged and fed a wide variety of animals. I have ridden on horses and one camel. I had tiny birds hop into my hands to eat food at a Buddhist Temple on Oahu. I once petted an orca whale on the tongue, which the handler told me the whale likes a lot. A year ago I was able to kiss an alpaca and she kissed me back. This year I went on a whale watching cruise that found no whales (so we cruise for free next year), but did see Dalls porpoises and birds that dive and "swim" 800 feet underwater.

My current to do list includes:

* Visit Central Washington University that has a colony of sign language chimps and have a conversation with one of them
* Hug a koala bear and have him/her hug me back
* Shake hands with a kangaroo
* See wild guinea pigs in their natural habitat (Peru)

and, as of today,
* Spot a white squirrel

How did I not know about this?

I may have to forgo my long awaited trip to the Potato Museum in Idaho ("Free Taters for Out-of-Staters!") to go to one of the towns that claims to be the home of the white squirrel. I have developed quite a relationship with our resident squirrel, Mr. Squirrel, and I think he would make the pilgrimmage himself if he could drive. A white squirrel must be like a white elephant or rhino, a sign of goodness and hope. Just look at their sweet beady eyes and you can't help but feel a sense of... peace (or in Stephan's case, a sense that a long drive is imminent).